


An Impromptu Wedding

by Cassandra14



Series: Linzin Kids Au [10]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-14 17:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1274710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassandra14/pseuds/Cassandra14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a family reunion, Tenzin has an idea. Later, he also makes new friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Impromptu Wedding

"It's been wonderful to see everyone," Tenzin commented to Lin as they strolled through the palace corridors.

"It has, especially Aunt Suki and her daughters. We haven't seen them in what, ten years?"

"More or less," replied Tenzin.

"I pity Uncle Zuko, and his court," Lin said wryly. Tenzin didn't disagree; the entire collective of Avatar Aang's extended family had descended upon the palace. Strange things happened when the group reunited - mostly hijinks and pranks and blatant disregard for any social customs deemed too stuffy or boring.

Absentmindedly, Lin toyed with the pendant at her throat. Tenzin smirked. Etched with wind spirals and a winged boar, it hung on a flat braided ribbon with strands of green, red, yellow, and blue. As the necklace resembled a torque rather than a choker, it remained hidden and protected under her armor while at work.

Lin caught herself, caught him grinning, and dropped her hand. She rolled her eyes.

"You're looking too pleased with yourself," she accused.

After checking to make sure the hallway was deserted, Tenzin halted and drew Lin to face him.

"Maybe a little," he admitted, still smiling. "But can you blame me?"

He leaned over and kissed her.

When they parted, Lin said, "You do realize we've practically been married for years as it is? I stopped trying to correct people five years ago."

"I know. So did I, but it's different somehow."

"Well, at least I've stopped getting asked if you've asked me to marry you yet," Lin declared.

"No, although my mother has already asked me when we're going to get married, if we'd like a spring or summer wedding, and if we're getting married on the island," Tenzin said with a hint of exasperation.

This time, Lin was the one who grinned. "She figures you're her only child who will be marrying anytime soon, if at all. Kya and Bumi haven't shown the slightest desire to ever settle down with anyone. Kya's longest relationship was a year, Bumi's less than that."

His expression turned dismayed. Lin thought he actually paled.

"You're right. She's going to want to plan the most extravagant wedding possible," he murmured. "Then there's my father…"

Lin sobered in a snap. "Monkeyfeathers. I didn't think...spirits he's going to want to invite the whole flaming world." She eyed him. "I don't suppose we could elope. Mother wouldn't care as long as we have a party afterwards."

"Your mother might not care about a wedding, but  _my_  mother would kill me and my father would pout for the next century," Tenzin told her. "We can't elope."

"We'll have to think of something," said Lin. "I'd be fine with just going down to a magistrate one day, with your parents and Mother and Uncle Sokka. Weddings have always seemed like a lot of fuss and bother to me."

"Hmmm…"

Tenzin pondered the problem as they continued on towards one of the many dining rooms to meet everyone else for lunch.

One corridor away, he halted again.

"Tez?" asked Lin. "Why'd you stop this time?"

Pulling her into an alcove, he opened his mouth, closed it, and then stammered, "Would you...what if we…"

"Spit it out."

He sucked in a deep breath and managed, "What if we got married here? Now?"

"Now!" exclaimed Lin. Tenzin shushed her, not wanting a relative to chance by, hear, and investigate. In a whisper, she repeated. "Now?"

"Now. It's merely an idea - maybe an insane idea - but everyone's here. I mean our family is all together -"

Lin jumped in, " - and it'll be hard to get them back together. It'll be just us, just the family. We wouldn't spend months wasting time," Lin sneered, "On flower arrangements and menus and seating charts and other stupid nonsense."

"We wouldn't. I don't know what the point of all that is," Tenzin admitted.

"No point at all," insisted Lin. "The important part, the part that matters, is that we get married." She shook her head. "I don't need the rest - I don't even want the rest."

"Are you sure?" Tenzin solicited. "I don't want to pressure you -"

Arching a brow, Lin snorted, "Since when can you pressure me into anything?"

"Never," he replied, eyes bright and lips curving into a broad smile. "You don't want to wait?"

"No. Do you?" she challenged, hands on hips and eyebrow raised.

"No," he answered, "besides, as you said, we've been married in all but name for quite some time."

"Are  _you_  sure you're ready to be tied down Master Airhead?" asked Lin, catching his face in her hands. Her tone joked, but Tenzin sensed the seriousness behind the playfulness.

Tenzin grasped one wrist and pressed a kiss to her palm.

"I'm sure, Lin."

"Then let's go tell them."

...

"Excuse me, excuse me, may I have everyone's attention, excuse me, please may I -" The table continued to buzz with chatter and the clinking of china. They ignored Tenzin, who was standing, and trying in vain to attract their attention.

Lin's piercing whistle did the trick.

In her best Lieutenant Beifong voice, she announced, "Tenzin and I have decided, since the entire family is here, we...ah...we might as well get married here and now."

The room froze. Firelord Zuko held his knife in mid-air, jelly dripping onto his robes. Katara dribbled sugar onto the tablecloth. Prince Lu Ten held a bread basket in midair, about to pass it off to Toph.

Guffawing loudly, Bumi broke the silence. He slapped his knee. He bellowed, "Good one, you two, you almost had us!"

Laughter spread from him to Sokka to Toph to Aang and on around the table. Even the Fire royalty showed glimmers of amusement with Honora hiding her face behind a fan while Ursa's and Zuko's lips twitched.

Sticking her fingers back into her mouth, Lin whistled again.

"We're not joking," Tenzin proclaimed.

"But - you can't - " exclaimed Kya. "A wedding takes months to plan."

"Months," Katara protested, "You need a place and what about the celebration afterwards - the food, the decorations, the dancing, the invitations - we're leaving in a week. It's not possible. What about your friends, your co-workers, and the acolytes? Lin, your Beifong relatives? Don't you want them at your wedding?"

Lin and Tenzin shared a glance.

"Aunt Katara, the people I want at our wedding are here. Everyone else...if we started expanding the guest list we'd have to invite the entire Temple, half the force and spirits knows who else," explained Lin. "Our wedding is for us, and for our family, and you're all here."

"We want it simple, Mother," Tenzin assured Katara.

"This is what we want," Lin added.

Once the pair convinced everyone they were indeed serious, planning commenced with an astonishing speed. Lin was whisked away to the palace seamstresses while Tenzin ended up touring the palace for a suitable ceremony location. He settled on the eastern gardens, a lush area with bits of wildness where plants were allowed to grow unchecked.  
...

Three days later, the family gathered in the garden. On the grass, four white columns supported a gold silk canopy underneath which sat a low table and cushions. Flowers and vines bedecked the columns and canopy. The table held a small brazier with all the requirements for making tea along with circle of jade beads.

In the cool of the early morning, the guests seated themselves on the cushions in a half-circle around the ardor. Toph, Aang, and Katara appeared last; Aang and Katara glowed with happiness while Toph attempted to look annoyed but failed completely. Giving it up, Toph beamed as she ignored the empty cushion beside Sokka and sat directly on the ground.

At the ninth hour, nine bells rang. The first reverberated through the garden, low and solemn, and then the others sounded, going up the scale until the last rang out sweet and clear.

Clad in robes of brilliant yellow, Tenzin approached from the east. Lin approached from the west, clad in robes of delicate green, the green of new leaves, with a girdle of gold. Brushed until gleaming, her hair cascaded over her shoulders with only two jade hairpins as adornments. They met beneath the canopy and joined hands.

As neither Air Nomad nor Gaoling tradition required officiates, they turned to the assembled company and Tenzin asked, "Is everyone here? Shall we begin?"

"Yes!" "Aye!" "Get Going!" "On with it!" "Yes!" replied their family.

Tenzin and Lin knelt, facing each other. Lin picked up the beads and Tenzin took the other side of the circle.

Their eyes met. Glancing at their family, Lin flushed and murmured, "You go first."

With a tender smile, Tenzin began, "Lin, I...I love you. I think I've loved you since before I knew what love was, and I know I'll love you for all the days of my life. Knowing you, having you by my side, has made me a better person. Not because you forced or asked me to change, but because you saw me as my own self and believed in me. Your belief, and your example, have strengthened me in spirit and character; I would be a lesser man without you. I love your spirit, your compassion, your courage, your clarity of vision and purpose, your strength of character and heart. I love all of you, everything you are and were and will be. I would be honored to share that future with you, as your husband, as well as your best friend and partner. I promise to respect and love you always. Your burdens and cares will be my burdens and cares; your joys and delights will be my joys and delights. I will never forget to show you, in word and in deed, that I love you, and I entrust my heart to your keeping for I am yours and yours alone."

Lin blinked hard to suppress tears. Her hands trembled on the beads, as did Tenzin's. Her lips parted and closed thrice before she managed to speak.

"Tenzin, you're my best friend. You've always been my best friend. Whenever something bad happened, whenever something upset me, I could always go to you and you'd always find a way to make things better, even if you could do nothing more than remind me that I wasn't alone. You make me smile on days when I think smiling is impossible. You make me laugh more than anyone else. You comfort me and I know, whatever happens, you'll support me. I look at you and I see...I see what is good in this world. I love you. I will always love you. As your wife, I promise to be your partner in all things, good and bad, big and small. I promise to love you, to care for you, to trust and to respect you. I'll keep your heart safe and give you mine in exchange. You are mine, and I am yours, for as long as we live."

They clasped hands, the beads caught between their palms, and rose.

"In front of these witnesses, I take you, Lin Beifong, as my wife."

"In front of these witnesses, I take you, Tenzin of the Air Nomads, as my husband."

Turning, they faced their family. Katara wept openly, Kya wiped her eyes with her sleeve, Aang had a tear at the corner of his grin, and Toph sniffed audibly. Sokka offered her his handkerchief on which she trumpeted her nose.

"Witnesses, do you accept our vows?" asked Tenzin.

Lin asked, "In your eyes, having heard our pledges, are we two now one in spirit?"

"Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!" they shouted.

"A kiss!" boomed Bumi, echoed by others. "Come on, give us a kiss!" "A kiss!" "Yes, a kiss!"

Suddenly shy, the couple blushed, but complied. It started chaste and gentle, but then Lin released Tenzin's hand and the beads, flung her arms around his neck, and deepened it.

They only stopped when Sokka's whoop brought them back to earth.

Ears red and smile threatening to split his face, Tenzin cleared his throat. To Lin, he asked, "Shall we?" and gestured at the table.

Lin nodded and knelt. Tenzin knelt beside her.

Together, they performed the ritual of making tea. They prepared the water and the leaves, combined them, and whisked the tea into a soft green froth in a single bowl of finest china.

Alternating, they offered the bowl to each other, each taking nine tiny sips.

Then, Tenzin took the bowl, stood, and carried it to Toph. He bowed, extending the bowl towards her.

"A marriage is not only between two people, but between two families. I humbly ask for your welcome into yours."

Toph smirked. "Well, I don't know, Airhead...what would you do if I said no? Or if I said you had to win a match against me first?"

"Mom!" exclaimed Lin. She resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands.

"Toph!" gasped Katara.

Sokka just shook his head and looked on, highly amused.

Tenzin pleaded, "Aunt Toph, please?"

"Okay, okay, too late now I guess," conceded Toph before taking the bowl. She sipped and waved her hand in a regal gesture of approval. "Welcome to the family, Twinkle Toes Junior."

"Thank you," answered Tenzin, taking back the tea. He returned to the arbor and handed the bowl to Lin.

She approached Aang and Katara. Bowing, she said, "A marriage is not only between two people, but between two families. I humbly ask for your welcome into yours."

"With all my heart, I welcome you and your family into my family," answered Aang.

"You've always been family, you'll always be family, you and your mother both," added Katara. She accepted the bowl, sipped, and passed it to Aang.

He drank and handed the dish back to Lin. Tenzin came to stand beside her. He took the bowl and carried it to Sokka. From Sokka, the bowl was passed until every person had taken a sip.

When Lu Ten returned the bowl to Tenzin and he placed it on the table, the formal aura cracked and shattered. The guests leapt to their feet, rushing the couple for hugs and kisses on the cheek and vigorous handshakes.

A wedding feast followed, nine courses interspersed with entertainment. The royal court provided dancers, musicians, and storytellers; a small troop of actors performed as well. Tenzin and Lin shared a single plate and cup, seated in the midst of the table and surrounded by their family. A royal scribe witnessed Lin's and Tenzin's signing of the marriage license and register.

...

The newlyweds traveled to cottage outside the capital after the feast. Kept as a retreat for the royal family, Zuko had it prepared and provisioned for them. He offered a pair of trusted servants, who would be most discreet and nigh invisible, so that they wouldn't have to trouble themselves with cooking and such.

"No, thank you, Uncle," Lin had replied. "It's a Gaoling tradition for the couple to do for themselves for the first days of their marriage."

"It's supposed to remind the couple that they should always support and depend on each other before anyone else," Tenzin had further explained.

In the evening, Tenzin and Lin cooked only rice for their dinner. Deliberately weak tea accompanied it. In this, they followed another Gaoling tradition, one which helped the couple remember the foundation of their lives would be love and that love would sustain them in whatever circumstances they lived. A plain, humble meal shared with a loving spouse surpassed dining at a king's table without such company.

Afterwards, they retired to their bedchamber. A luxurious bed, heaped with pillows, awaited them. Lin and Tenzin took full advantage of it.

* * *

"Three cheers for the happy couple!" shouted someone in the crowd of police officers and Council functionaries packing the Dragon's Teeth Alehouse as Lin and Tenzin entered. The mob chorused, "Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip hooray!"

The couple smiled and nodded acknowledgement. Lin called, "Thank you."

"Now, let's get this party started," declared Toph, clapping her hands. "Drinks for everyone!"

The crowd roared in approval. Musicians struck up a lively tune, conversations burst into life. Having to stop every two inches to accept congratulations, Lin and Tenzin needed a full ten minutes to reach the bar where Sokka and Toph waited.

"So what's it like being married?" asked Sokka. He held out a non-alcoholic cider to Tenzin and a tumbler of whiskey to Lin.

"Not much different than being not married," Lin replied. She glanced around at the crowd and took a generous sip of the whiskey. "Thanks for this, I've got a feeling I'm going to need it. Did you invite the whole flaming city?"

"Not quite," Sokka rejoined.

"As if we were going to give up an excuse to throw a party," scoffed Toph. She jabbed Tenzin in the arm. "Where's Twinkletoes and Katara?"

"Clinic emergency, they'll be here in a few minutes," answered Tenzin.

"Excellent. I have a bet that needs settling." Toph smirked and rubbed her hands together.

Tenzin and Lin looked at each other, Tenzin opened his mouth, but Lin shook her head before he could get the words out.

"Don't ask. I'm sure we don't want to know," she told him.

Upon reconsidering the matter and Toph's gleeful expression, Tenzin acknowledged, "You're probably right."

Sokka laughed. "I see you've already learned the first rule, Tenzin. The woman is always right."

"Oi! Then why do you keep insisting the Bohai Bearcats have a chance in hell of winning the championship when I've told you again and again the Vulture-Pumas are going to win?" demanded Toph.

"Because we're not married," stated Sokka. "Rule doesn't apply."

"It should!" Toph insisted. "You said 'woman' not 'wife' Meathead."

"I meant wife."

"That's not what you said."

"It's what I meant!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes really!"

"Mother! Sokka!" Lin exclaimed. They focused on her. Lin took up her glass in one hand and gripped Tenzin's arm with the other. "We're going to go say hello to my Captain."

She tugged Tenzin away and into the crowd. He came willingly.

"I wonder if..." He glanced over his shoulder at Toph and Sokka who had cheerfully returned to their arguing.

"You wonder what?"

"One wedding might...you know...lead to another?" he suggested.

"For the sake of my sanity, do not say that again," Lin pleaded. "The idea of my mother planning a wedding – as the bride – is enough to give me nightmares. The two of them would celebrate with city-wide pranks and carousing, and you and I would have to deal with the aftermath."

"Oh..." Tenzin had a sudden visual of Toph's and Sokka's statues being positioned together rather vulgarly outside City Hall and Sokka laughing while the rest of the Council stood by horrified. He blanched. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Obviously." They reached her Captain.

"Lieutenant Beifong, Councilman Tenzin, congratulations," offered Captain Kenta. He shook both of their hands. "It's about time."

"Thank you, Captain," replied Lin. "Good evening, Avani." Lin nodded politely to the woman at Kenta's side. In her mid-thirties, Avani stood to Lin's shoulder and wore a sensible red dress. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks while a few graying strands marked her otherwise chestnut hair.

Gesturing to Avani, Kenta remarked, "Councilman Tenzin, I don't believe that you've ever met my wife, Avani."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Avani," said Tenzin.

"It's very nice to meet you too and, please, call me Avani," Avani said. "You're one of us now after all."

"One of us?" asked Tenzin, quite confused.

"Policemen's wives, there's a sort of unofficial club," replied Avani with a warm smile. "Although I suppose you're a husband instead of a wife and your spouse is a policewoman rather than a policeman, but those are minor details. I'm welcoming you to the club."

"Thank you," Tenzin said. "I think."

"Come on, I want to introduce you to a few of the others," Avani said. She took Tenzin's arm. "If we stay here, they'll start talking shop and we'll be bored."

Avani led him to a quieter corner of the bar where a group of women had gathered.

"Hello, Avani, how are you?" asked one of them, a vivacious black-haired woman. She rushed forward but stopped when she realized Tenzin was accompanying Avani. "Ah...hello?"

Avani said, "Miyu, meet our newest member. Councilman Tenzin, this is Miyu. Her husband is a Sergeant in Fifth."

"Pleased to meet you Mistress," said Tenzin. Dumbstruck, Miyu took Tenzin's extended hand and shook. At the sound of his voice, the heads of the rest of the group swiveled to face them.

"Councilman Tenzin, hi," responded Miyu at last.

Avani guided Tenzin into the circle of women, ushering him to an empty seat and sitting beside him. Miyu retook her own spot. One by one, Avani named the other women: Huifen, Indra, Lawan, Rina, Jiayi, and Sayura. Tenzin noticed Lawan was just beginning to show her pregnancy.

When none of them could quit staring and start talking, Avani turned to Lawan and asked, "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," replied Lawan.

"Did the crackers help?" Avani asked.

"Yes, they did. Thank you," Lawan said.

"If you don't mind the question, when are you due?" asked Tenzin as kindly as he could.

"Five and a half months," answered Lawan, rubbing her stomach and smiling.

"You and your husband must be very excited," Tenzin said.

"We are. It's our first," replied Lawan.

"Congratulations," offered Tenzin.

"Thanks." The women began to relax.

Addressing Lawan, Miyu spoke up, "Have you decided what color you want the nursery to be?"

"We decided on sky blue," Lawan said.

"Oh, it'll be lovely," sighed Sayura.

"When you're ready for a crib, my Bai has almost outgrown his," said Avani. With Tenzin quietly fading into the background, the women chattered about children and housekeeping and their spouses. After ten minutes or so, Tenzin ventured to join the discussion.

"Since he started working swing shift," declared Indra, "I feel like I never see him. We haven't had an actual conversation in weeks."

Tenzin suggested, "Have you tried notes?"

"Notes?" repeated Indra as the group suddenly remembered he was there.

"It's something Lin and I did, still do actually. If one or both of us is very busy and rarely home, we leave notes for the other. It's not a conversation, but it does help. It keeps us connected," he explained. "We write down something about our day, what we're doing or thinking, or a story we want to share."

"Hmm...that's an idea," said Indra. "He already leaves notes such as 'Buy cheese please' or 'Be home at midnight'. It wouldn't be much more trouble."

"I like it," declared Avani. "I can't believe no one has thought of it before. Thank you, Councilman."

"Please, call me Tenzin," he pressed. "If you are so kind as to welcome me into your midst, you certainly may call me by my name."

"Very well, then," said Avani. "Tenzin it is."

"You must be bored, though, listening to us talk about soothing kids' toothaches and getting dust out of curtains," said Miyu.

"No, not at all," Tenzin answered politely.

"Which speaking of children, not to be rude, but I assume you two are having them and I was wondering what your wife is going to do when you do?" asked Miyu, with the relief of someone who had been holding back curiosity.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"She's going to quit working, right?" Rina proposed.

"No, she's not." Mouths gaped, silence fell, and the circle stared at him. Tenzin hurriedly explained, "Her job is a part of her the same as I'm sure your husbands' are to them. I couldn't ask her to give up something so essential to her. We've decided that she will continue working and I will retire from the Council to take care of the children."

"You – ah – you're going to take care of the children?" stuttered Miyu.

"Yes."

A long moment passed before Avani cleared her throat. Taking a deep breath, she declared, "Then you're going to need all the advice and support you can get. We'll be here for you."

"Thank you," said Tenzin sincerely. "I'm sure I will have cause to need it."

"Yes, you will." Avina looked around the circle. She asked, "Does anyone have a pencil and paper? We might as well give him our addresses now."

The women dug into purses and patted pockets, eventually yielding up a notepad and a pencil. Acquiring names and addresses along the way, the two items made the circuit of the group. Avina received them last, added hers, and tore off the top sheet. She handed it to Tenzin.

"Thank you, ladies, and thank you for welcoming me," professed Tenzin. He tucked the slip of paper into a pocket.

"Tenzin, there you are," came Lin's voice from behind him. Tenzin turned his head to see her. "I've been looking for you. Your parents are here."

Facing the group again, Tenzin said, "Please excuse me, ladies."

"Of course," replied Avina.

"I'm sure we'll run into you again," said Miyu.

"I look forward to it," he assured them, rising.

As Tenzin and Lin headed towards Aang and Katara, Tenzin commented, "I've just become an honorary police officer's wife."

With a little laugh and smirk, Lin asked, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. I think I'm in good company," he declared.

"You are. Have been for a while, considering we've been living together since my rookie year," Lin said. "Marriage merely made it official."

"I suppose it did." He stopped, which stopped Lin, and took her hand. "It's one more good thing resulting from being married to you."

Lin rolled her eyes. She griped, "Whereas I am now stuck with an oversentimental sap. Joy."

"You said yes," Tenzin reminded her.

"I did, didn't I?" Lin shrugged. "I'll have to make the best of it."

Despite her teasing, she squeezed and kept hold of his hand while they navigated the last few feet to Aang and Katara. The gesture told Tenzin all he needed to know about Lin's feelings about their marriage. If she was willing to hold his hand in the midst of a crowd of strangers and fellow officers, then she was as happy and without regrets as he was.

Aang asked "How does it feel to be married?"

Tenzin answered simply, "Wonderful."

**Author's Note:**

> Wedding traditions adapted from Weddings: Dating & Love Customs of Cultures Worldwide by Carolyn Mordecai.
> 
> Also I accidentally made Tokka happen. Blame satomobile for converting me.


End file.
